Asma Gull Hasan, 29, is the author of Why I Am a Muslim (HarperCollins Thorsons/Element 2004) and American Muslims: The New Generation (Continuum 2000). She calls herself a “Muslim Feminist Cowgirl,” reflecting her upbringing in Colorado. The daughter of Pakistani immigrants and born in Chicago, she considers herself an all-American girl.

Hasan has been a columnist for The Denver Post and The Pakistan Link newspapers. Her op-eds have been published in The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Beliefnet.com, and The Dallas Morning News among many others. She is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel, particularly Hannity & Colmes, From the Heartland with John Kasich, and The O’Reilly Factor. Hasan has also been featured on: Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition on National Public Radio, CNN, CNN International, C-SPAN, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher on ABC. She has been profiled in USA Today and interviewed in The New York Times. In September 2002, Hasan appeared in the History Channel documentary Inside Islam.

Hasan graduated from the New York University School of Law in May 2001. She is also a 1997 graduate of Wellesley College, magna cum laude and a Durant Scholar. Hasan is a 1993 graduate of the Groton School, magna cum laude.

Hasan is an award-winning speaker and praised author. The US State Department selected her as an ambassador in the public relations campaign with the Islamic world. The Christian Century Magazine called her first book “a ground-breaking portrait” of the growing American Muslim community. Her paper on full-time Islamic schools, entitled “The Social Problems of Educating Muslim Children in America,” was published in the book Islam in America: Images and Challenges. She has spoken across the country at universities-including Harvard University, Hofstra University, Montclair University -and organizations such as the National Association of Bilingual Educators, the Kalamazoo County Government, and the National Association of Multicultural Educators. Her fictional short stories have been published in the youth literary publications Merlyn’s Pen and The Sussquehanna Review. One of her short stories was published in the book Taking Off: Coming of Age Stories, which was nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults and selected by the New York Public Library for its list of Books for the Teen Age. She has also contributed to notable essay collections, including the books Taking Back Islam, I Like Being an American, and It’s a Free Country. Hasan also serves as an editor of the monthly online publication The American Muslim. For more information and to read excerpts of Why I Am a Muslim and American Muslims, please visit http://www.asmahasan.com